471: Chapter 486 Follow me, and you'll live the high life!

Two hours later.

This secret land welcomed another uninvited guest.

The newcomer was Lu Ming. He walked from afar, his pace neither hurried nor slow.

He was originally heading toward the core of the Secret Realm, but while passing through this area, he was unintentionally drawn by the residual mana fluctuations in the air.

Since it didn't require a detour anyway, he decided to come and see what was going on.

However, as he walked closer, Lu Ming noticed the smell of blood in the air grew thicker, and his brow furrowed deeper.

Upon fully entering this secret land, Lu Ming's footsteps suddenly halted.

As far as the eye could see, the mountains and fields were covered in corpses. They lay crisscrossed in pools of blood.

The bodies were broken, severed into several pieces, with severed limbs scattered everywhere. Blood had stained the entire ground a dark red.

The residual mana fluctuations in the air had not yet fully dissipated—azure water vapor, bloody Evil Qi, sharp Sword Qi...

Several types of Auras were mixed together like a chaotic stew.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk..."

Lu Ming clicked his tongue in wonder as he walked, examining the corpses on the ground.

There were at least a hundred corpses here. Judging by the mana fluctuations they emitted, Golden Core Cultivators made up a significant portion of them.

These were Golden Core Cultivators, not some common rabble; even in the outside world, any one of them would be a formidable figure capable of holding their own.

Yet here, they had fallen in batches, like leeks being harvested.

"What exactly happened here to cause such a fight?"

He bypassed the corpses, this question rising in his mind. It looked like a struggle between three factions that ended in mutual destruction.

Oh no, there should be another faction.

Lu Ming looked in one direction, where a broken carriage was being pulled by the corpse of a Blue Luan demon. Its flag was already shredded, its origins unknown.

But around it lay a group of people in various states of collapse.

Unlike the other three sides, these people wore uniform silver-white armor, with standard-issue swords hanging at their waists and long halberds and battle spears in their hands.

Even though they were dead, they still emitted a sky-piercing Evil Qi. Clearly, they were a group of elite soldiers with impressive cultivation when they were alive.

This was also the only group on the field whose bodies remained mostly intact.

They had no external injuries and no bloodstains. They still maintained their postures from just before death, clutching their Magical Artifacts tightly, their faces frozen in expressions of terror and resentment.

If not for the fact that everyone's eyes were dull, their Qi was gone, and their Divine Souls had completely dissipated—leaving only empty shells—Lu Ming would have thought they had simply been hit by a paralysis spell based on their appearance alone.

"Why does this way of dying feel somewhat familiar?"

Lu Ming crouched down and carefully examined a silver-armored corpse. Its Physical Body was intact, its Meridians undamaged, and even the mana within it hadn't fully dissipated.

But the Divine Soul was clean, with not a trace left, as if it had been wiped away from its very root by some kind of power.

This eerie phenomenon gave Lu Ming an indescribable feeling, just like the Cultivators whose Divine Souls he had previously devoured with the human emperor banner.

However, Lu Ming didn't dwell on it too much. After all, various methods were endless in the Cultivation World; it was normal for similar techniques to exist.

As for associating it with the Soul Devouring Demonic Sect, that was even more impossible.

Bone Underworld had already died in the sealed land. In this Secret Realm, there was no one left from the Soul Devouring Demonic Sect.

He figured it was just a coincidence.

Lu Ming didn't overthink it, but as he looked at the corpses covering the ground, he let out a pained sigh of lament.

"Sigh, they're all still quite fresh. What a waste to leave them exposed in the wilderness."

In any case, these were a group of Golden Core Cultivators. Even if it was just their Physical Bodies, their flesh and blood were the best blood-food for someone like him who cultivated the Asura Tribulation Prison Scripture.

Although with his current cultivation, this little bit wasn't exactly a great supplement anymore, even mosquito legs are still meat.

"Frugality is a virtue, and waste is shameful!"

Lu Ming muttered a sentence and then began to help collect the bodies.

One, two, three...

Lu Ming nimbly collected the corpses into his Storage Pouch, his expression pious and focused, as if he were performing an extremely sacred task.

"I call this making the best use of everything, not insulting the dead."

He found excuses for himself as he collected them.

When he had finished collecting the last corpse, Lu Ming clapped his hands and stood up contentedly.

Now, his Storage Pouch held dozens more bodies of Golden Core Cultivators. Although most were incomplete, they were better than nothing.

"Eh, what's this?"

Once Lu Ming had cleared the corpses from the area, the ground was left empty.

It was then that he noticed a simple, unadorned bronze bell quietly tucked away behind a nearby rock.

Although the bell was mottled all over, it was engraved with countless ancient runes and carried an indescribable charm. At a glance, it was clearly no ordinary object!

Lu Ming's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected an unexpected harvest from this trip.

He paced over, crouched down, and reached out to touch the ancient bell.

But at that moment, the ancient bell seemed to be startled awake by the uninvited guest's sudden proximity.

The body of the bell shuddered violently, and like a reflexive response, it emitted a high-pitched, humming chime!

In an instant, Lu Ming felt as if his Divine Soul had been struck by a heavy hammer, falling into a brief trance.

But now, his Divine Soul strength had almost transcended the Golden Core scope, and he quickly regained his senses.

"Interesting."

Lu Ming wasn't angered by the bronze bell's sneak attack; instead, he felt a bit of interest.

He could tell this was just an exotic treasure rather than something with a master. Its behavior just now was more like a spontaneous reaction.

Is this bell... afraid?

Lu Ming tilted his head at the ancient bell, as if seeing a frightened small animal curled up in a corner, shivering.

"No way, am I really that scary?"

Lu Ming found it somewhat amusing and gently patted the bell's body, his tone as gentle as if he were coaxing a small pet.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. I'm not a bad person."

The ancient bell ignored him entirely and directly began to play dead.

If it could speak or make expressions, it would surely be rolling its eyes wildly.

Don't flatter yourself—was it really afraid of you?

It was terrified by that vicious person from just now!

Although the ancient bell didn't have sapience, its very existence was quite extraordinary, and its perception of its surroundings had reached an exquisitely subtle level.

To it, the Soul-Devouring Demon Lord was no different from a prehistoric beast in human skin. The other party could have easily crushed it to death, which was why the ancient bell was so fearful.

It thought it had hidden itself well, only to be dug up by this scavenger who then had the nerve to try and comfort it!

Lu Ming didn't know what the ancient bell was thinking, but he didn't much care.

Seeing that the ancient bell had stopped moving, he reached out and scooped it up, turning it over to examine it.

Then, he sent his Divine Thought into the bell's body to investigate the functions of this exotic treasure.

Exotic treasures were different from Magic Treasures; they didn't need to be refined and could be used simply by activating them with mana.

So, the moment Lu Ming's Divine Thought entered, a stream of information flooded into his mind.

This ancient bronze bell was called the "taixu ancient bell."

Its core ability was naturally related to the "Tai-Xu" Void.

First was the suppression of the Void Realm.

The taixu ancient bell could be enlarged or shrunk at will. Within the range covered by the bell, it could lock down space, preventing enemies from teleporting or tearing through the Void Realm.

The bell itself could also serve as a supreme defensive treasure. When inverted, it could manifest a Small World of absolute defense, weakening or even annihilating incoming attacks.

Whether for trapping enemies or protection, it was an excellent Sharp Weapon.

Another ability was Divine Soul attack.

When the bell chimed, the sound waves struck the Soul directly. Those with lower cultivation might have their Divine Sense shattered instantly.

It could also create illusions where reality and fantasy intertwined, trapping enemies within so they couldn't distinguish between truth and falsehood or reality and illusion.

"Good stuff."

After understanding all its abilities, Lu Ming's eyes suddenly brightened.

This taixu ancient bell integrated offense and defense, capable of both trapping enemies and protecting oneself.

For a Golden Core Cultivator, it was absolutely a supreme-tier existence.

It was especially useful for his current special situation.

Although in a contest of raw strength, he feared no one of the same rank, a Great True Person of Golden Core Perfection could already tear through the Void Realm to escape.

Since the human emperor banner had been taken to the sealed land by his Clone, he was currently lacking a Magic Treasure that could pin down an enemy.

The appearance of this ancient bell was like charcoal in a blizzard. Whether for defense or trapping enemies, it could be considered top-grade.

"But... I still need to test its mettle."

Lu Ming stood up, holding the ancient bell in his palm, and poured mana into it.

The taixu ancient bell trembled slightly and emitted a low hum, clearly showing a bit of reluctance.

This was the limitation of exotic treasures—without being refined, they possessed a form of freedom, but correspondingly, anyone could manipulate them as they pleased.

In short, whoever picked it up owned it.

So, under Lu Ming's continuous infusion of mana, it eventually began to cooperate.

The bell suddenly grew in size, becoming taller than a person, and hovered in front of Lu Ming.

The ancient runes lit up one by one, emitting a faint, eerie glow.

The light wasn't dazzling, but it carried a sense of eternal weight, as if it had come from the ancient primordial era, standing firm through endless years.

Around the bell, the Void Realm began to distort slightly, and an invisible force field spread from the bell like ripples, covering everything within a ten-zhang radius.

Everywhere the force field passed, the air solidified and dust stopped moving, as if this small patch of heaven and earth were being suppressed by that ancient bell.

Lu Ming raised his hand, forming a Seal and chanting a mantra as a fire-element Divine Ability condensed in his palm.

As mana surged, a crimson Fire Phoenix phantom flew from his fingertips, its wings spreading and tail feathers fluttering as it carried scorching heat and crashed into the ancient bell!

"Dang—"

The chime echoed. The Fire Phoenix struck the bell like a pebble thrown into a lake, stirring a circle of ripples before dissipating into nothingness.

The ancient bell remained motionless, and even the faint light on its surface didn't dim in the slightest.

Lu Ming nodded and then increased his strength.

With the Tiangang Law added, a golden fist-aura condensed on the surface of his fist, its golden light brilliant and solid.

He threw a punch, the fist-aura tearing through the Void Realm with an indomitable Aura, slamming hard against the bell's body!

"Dang—!"

This time, the chime was even louder.

The ancient bell vibrated slightly, and the runes on it flickered a few times, emitting a piercing golden light before returning to calm.

It still hung there steadily, completely unmoved.

"Not bad."

A flash of satisfaction appeared in Lu Ming's eyes, but his movements didn't stop there.

Lu Ming took a deep breath and activated three Laws simultaneously.

Tiangang, Xun Wind, and Yin and Yang—the power of three Laws intertwined and fused in his palm, turning into a four-colored beam of light.

Within the beam, the four colors of gold, green, black, and white swirled, emitting a terrifying pressure that made one's heart skip a beat.

"Go!"

He shouted low, and the light beam blasted out!

This strike was enough to heavily injure any Golden Core Perfection.

"Dang—!!!"

A deafening chime exploded! The taixu ancient bell vibrated violently, and the runes on it flickered frantically, as if enduring immense pressure.

The invisible force field distorted wildly, nearly collapsing.

But in the end, it held.

Only a few fine cracks appeared on the surface of the bell, but the body of the bell itself remained intact.

Lu Ming estimated that with his strongest strike fusing three Laws, it would take at least ten consecutive hits on the same spot to possibly break through the ancient bell's defense.

But that was all; to truly damage it would likely require even greater power.

"The defense is good."

Lu Ming nodded in satisfaction.

Next was the enemy-trapping test.

With a thought, the taixu ancient bell inverted and descended, covering his entire person.

Inside the bell, it formed its own Small World. The surrounding Void Realm seemed solidified, and he tried to activate Void shifting.

However, the Void power that usually swirled around him had vanished without a trace, as if it were being tightly locked down by something.

He tried several more times, but Void shifting gave no response. Whether tearing through the Void Realm or space jumping, everything was completely suppressed by that invisible force field.

"Trapping enemies is also acceptable!"

Lu Ming put away the ancient bell, his mood excellent.

And after this round of testing, the taixu ancient bell seemed to have perceived Lu Ming's strength.

It no longer resisted, the faint light on its surface became soft, and it even actively leaned toward Lu Ming's palm, as if expressing some kind of recognition.

"That's more like it."

Lu Ming patted the bell and smiled. "Isn't it great to follow me and live large!"

The ancient bell emitted a low hum, though whether in agreement or helplessness was unclear.

"It seems this group of people fought each other until both sides were wounded, which benefited me and let me pick the fruit!"

Lu Ming held up the ancient bell and nodded with considerable satisfaction.

But after thinking about it, he felt something wasn't quite right. An exotic treasure of this level would be enough to make Golden Core Perfections fight to the death in the outside world.

Even if both sides were wounded, they shouldn't have been completely wiped out, right?

Someone should have at least used their last breath to take it away.

Moreover, seeing how cleanly that group of silver-armored Cultivators had been eliminated, the person who did it must have been very powerful, likely the final victor.

But why hadn't they been interested in the taixu ancient bell? It was impossible not to notice it.

Unless, the other party looked down on it!

Lu Ming shook his head, throwing this absurd thought out of his mind.

How could anyone look down on it?

This thing is a supreme treasure even for a Golden Core Perfection; did they think they were a Nascent Soul True Monarch!

Lu Ming chuckled and didn't dwell on it.

Anyway, since no one took it, he would keep it with peace of mind.

At least he could be sure of one thing: this wasn't a trap, as no new names had appeared on the karma golden book.

Since that was the case, he would accept it with a smile.

Lu Ming flipped his right hand, stowing the taixu ancient bell, then stood up and looked toward the deeper parts of the Secret Realm.

"Let's go, time to get down to business."

With a flash of his figure, he disappeared into the vast wilderness.